


Of All Stars

by DarkCellar



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), kylux - Fandom
Genre: Captain Phasma, Finding A Cure, Gay, General Armitage Hux - Freeform, Kylo Ren - Freeform, Kylo Ren loves Hux, Kylux - Freeform, Love, M/M, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Sick Fic, Sickness, Soft Kylux, Star Wars - Freeform, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015) - Freeform, The First Order, kylux fluff, space boyfriends, supreme leader snoke - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-30 12:48:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11463927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkCellar/pseuds/DarkCellar
Summary: General Hux has just returned from a mission in the Outer Rim territories, and, unbeknownst to him, he and the men that accompanied him have picked up a rare and potentially fatal disease.As Hux quickly loses strength, it is up to Kylo Ren to embark on a short journey to find the plant that can cure his and the others' illness--hopefully before it's too late to save them.





	Of All Stars

"You don't look so good."

It was about a week after General Hux and a group of his men had been sent on a mission to the outer rim, to make contact with a planet that had pledged its allegiance to The First Order. Hux was sent on what Snoke called a 'diplomatic visit' to greet their newest allies and welcome them into the family.

However, since Hux had been back, he had been acting somewhat strangely. He got tired a lot quicker than usual, and he couldn't seem to keep much down, in the way of food, other than liquids.

And Kylo noticed, and was concerned.

Kylo Ren and General Hux had been romantically involved with each other for the better part of two years, and this after several years of a tense, rivalry-driven 'friendship'.

Anyone on base who could get one eye open and who paid attention knew that they were involved, but nobody, including Supreme Leader Snoke, ever said anything about it. The consensus seemed to be that a long as the two didn't let their personal lives interfere with work, or what was good for the entire First Order, then the two could do what they wanted.

Both men were proven time and time again to be very capable, confident leaders, and each had well earned the respect of all those that they oversaw.

Alone, well, that was another story.

Being in love didn't seem to quell, for a second, the stubborn, competitive nature that existed between them. And each was still reluctant to take advice or criticism from the other.

Like now.

"I feel fine, Kylo," Hux said, sighing as he rubbed his fingers over his forehead. In truth, he didn't really feel fine at all. He had a headache that just would not go away, and he felt unusually tired.

They were sitting in Hux's quarters, and the General was trying to finish up some paperwork from the office. Kylo had, as usual, tagged along after him, sitting at Hux's table and eating all the food he could get his hands on.

Normally Hux would yell at him about all he was eating, and how he was getting crumbs all over the floor--but tonight, he just didn't feel up to it. He felt so lethargic that it was all he could do to keep his head upright.

"Do you wanna go to bed?" Kylo asked him, leaving the table to go to Hux and wrap his arms around his shoulders. "I guarantee I've got the cure for whatever's bothering you."

Hux rolled his eyes and lightly pushed Kylo off of him. "I'm not really in the mood, dearest. You'll have to go find someone else to 'cure'."

"But I don't want to cure anyone but YOU," Kylo said, moving back towards Hux and kissing his neck. Hux closed his eyes as his dark haired lover assaulted his neck, moving his lips teasingly down to his collarbone.

The next thing he knew, Kylo was shaking his shoulder hard, and looking at him with real fear in his eyes.

"Hux--ARE you okay?", he asked, holding him at arms length and looking him over carefully. 

"Huh?"

"You--I think you just passed out there, for a few seconds."

Hux shook his head, rolling his eyes. "I didn't 'pass out'; your kissing isn't THAT good, you know. I just fell asleep."

But Kylo refused to make a joke of it. "I think something is wrong with you, Hux. Maybe I should take you to Med Bay?"

"No, I'm FINE," Hux insisted, moving slowly across the room. "I'm just tired. I'm going to go lay down. I'll see you tomorrow."

And with that he turned and walked into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

Kylo left Hux's quarters with a feeling of apprehension.

Finally, he decided to stop by Med Bay and tell one of the droids to go and check on the stubborn redhead.

If he didn't want to go to Med Bay, Kylo would bring Med Bay to him.

As he approached the great white doors, he paused, as he noticed several men being carried in on stretchers. Unusual, considering it was early evening and their had been no battles that they might have sustained injuries in.

Kylo went in and inquired with the droid as to what was going on. It told him that apparently this group of men had just returned about a week prior from foreign parts, and today all of them, despite being in different regiments, had gotten severely ill at the same time.

Three men appeared to be totally unconscious, one was vomiting into a pail, the other two were hysterical and raving.

It suddenly occurred to Kylo: Hux.

These were the men that Hux had taken with him on his mission a week ago.

He turned and sped from the room and down the halls, back to Hux's quarters. He used the Force to kick open the doors and ran into Hux's bedroom.

Hux was laying sprawled out on the floor, half undressed, his arms laying limply in front of him. Kylo quickly knelt down and pressed his shaking fingers to Hux's wrist. His pulse was extremely weak, and sluggish--but there.

He lifted him up and raced back with him down the hall to Med Bay, shouting at the droids for help.

\---

A week passed, and Hux's condition did not change. The medical droid had him hooked up to an IV tube for feeding, and injected him with medicine to keep his fever down, but other than those things, nothing more could be done for him.

An analysis of his blood work, and that of his men, showed that they had been exposed to a slow-working airborne toxin that attacked their lungs and immune system, while they had been on that planet. It wasn't contagious, so there was no need for Kylo to be concerned being around Hux or his men, but still.

At the end of the week, Kylo asked whether Hux could just be moved to his quarters, along with the IV feed, so that he could better watch out for him there. The droid reluctantly agreed, after conceding that not much was being done for the General where he was.

The problem was that the only thing that could cure Hux and his men was the leaves of the Jacuba plant, mixed with antibiotic and made into a serum. But the Jacuba plant was only found in one known place in the universe, and that place presented a problem.

But Kylo focused on the issues at hand, first.

"Move him to my quarters."

"Yes, Sir, right away," said the Trooper, and he and his counterpart gently lifted the General onto a trolley, along with his IV machine, and began to walk with him down the halls.

Kylo was glad it was after hours, and not many people would be around to witness this. Not because he was in any way ashamed of people knowing he wanted Hux in his room, but because he knew the redhead prided himself on how others saw him. If he was conscious and knew that he was going to be seen being carried helplessly down the hall like a rag doll, he probably would have killed Kylo--and anyone else who was witness to the spectacle.

But Kylo had bigger things to worry about, besides Hux's pride.

It was clear that the man was sinking, and fast. In just this week alone the already-thin General had become nearly haggard, taking on the grotesque look of a living skeleton. His body was no longer absorbing the majority of the nutrients that the medical droids had tried to feed him through the tubes; just barely taking in enough to keep him alive. And if the other Troopers, the ones who had been with him on that blasted mission, were any indication of the future--

TR-2104 had died. He had lost nearly a third of his body weight quite rapidly, and eventually his heart gave out under the strain. 

TW-5100 was still alive, but just barely. He had somehow regained consciousness and now spent his days raving and howling with pain. He had to be quarantined in a private section of Med Bay, because his ranting was scaring the other patients. The droid told Kylo that they predicted he would only last a few more days, if even that.

The other 4 stormtroopers were pretty much in the same state that Hux was in; unconscious and fading.

Kylo knew that he had to do something, and fast, before Hux and the rest of the men died. He had spent hours doing research and, concluded that the problematic place really was the sole destination that a cure would be obtained.

The only problem was that it was on Dathomir, and this place had been strictly forbidden by Snoke. Kylo went to him countless times to plead his case for going, citing the inevitable death of General Hux if he didn't receive this medicine; only to be met with cold firmness.

"Kylo Ren, Dathomir is off limits for a reason. While we're sure that the Nightsisters have all been vanquished, our reports indicate that much of their black magic still lingers there. It's a dangerous place to go, even for a Force-user. And I can't risk losing YOU, as well as him."

"But, Master," Kylo began, frustrated.

Snoke cut him off, holding up his hand. 

"You need to be focused on your responsibilities right now. With the General out of commission, it is up to YOU to find a replacement for him. Things still need to be done, whether he lives or not. Is that understood?"

Kylo bowed his head solemnly.

"Yes, Master."

"I'm not blind, Lord Ren. I'm aware that you harbor very deep feelings for the General, and I won't delude myself into thinking that his passing won't be hard on you. But we must go on. Life must go on. Do you agree?"

Kylo nodded again, although he didn't agree in the least.

"Good. Now, I must prepare for my journey to Coruscant. I want you to bring me the person whom you feel best suited to take over for the General, before I leave, so that I may have a talk with them about how I expect things to be run."

"Yes, Master," Kylo said, bowing his head once more and exiting the room.

He headed to the conference room, where he had called for Hux's top officers to assemble for an emergency meeting. All voices stopped as he entered the room, and their eyes followed him as he took Hux's chair at the head of the table.

He debated for a moment, then he did something he had only ever done in the presence of Snoke and Hux. He reached up, unhooked the locks on his helmet, and pulled it over and off of his head, setting it down on the table in front of him.

If the situation hadn't been so grave, he would have smiled. All the minds in the room had gone into a state of shock, seeing his actual face. Many, especially the men, were surprised at his apparent youth. One even thought, indignantly, THIS is the man we all bow and scrape to? He barely looks older than a teenager!

Kylo ignored this and began to speak, and was met with more of that subtle surprise: no one in this room had heard his actual voice before, either.

"As many of you may know, General Hux is in a serious condition. He's ill, and it's unknown for how long he'll remain ill. In the interim, until he's well enough to resume his command, Supreme Leader Snoke has tasked me with finding a temporary replacement for him."

Everyone was quiet as he continued, "As of right now, this means running the meetings, preparing specialized daily reports for Snoke and myself, overseeing drills, and being prepared to take control in the event of enemy attack. If General Hux does not improve, more duties will be added to that list."

He stood up to his full, towering height for emphasis.

"This is not a light task to undertake," he said, looking slowly around the room at each individual face. "Snoke needs somebody who will be looking out for the welfare of every single person on this base, from the lowest ranking stormtroopers, to the Supreme Leader himself. It requires strength, discipline, a strategic mind, and above all, dedication."

"I've given it a great deal of thought, and my reasoning brings me continually back to one person."

He turned towards the left of the room, and looked at a tall, blonde woman siting near the back.

"Captain Phasma; if I appoint you this task, do you feel you would be efficiently able to carry out the General's duties as necessary?"

The woman was clearly taken by surprise. There were so many other individuals, much higher ranking ones than herself, that she would have thought Kylo Ren would have called upon, before her.

But Ren knew in his heart that she was the only one her capable of what he was asking of them. He knew this, and, reaching out to read the minds of the others in the room, he knew that they felt the same way."

"Yes," she nodded confidently, a determination lighting her eyes. "I won't let you down, Lord Ren."

He nodded, and began to speak on how certain procedures were going to be altered for Phasma's temporary leadership. As he spoke, he thought.

Snoke was leaving for Coruscant tomorrow.

And Kylo Ren, approved or not, was leaving for Dathomir.

\---

Landing on the surface of the frightening planet was difficult. It was dark, even though he ships sensors told him that it was daytime, and red. A heavy blanket of dusky red mist hung over everything, making it very difficult to see. All around him was what appeared to be a forest, a sickly looking dark green, and the ground was unstable with swampy land and uneven terrain.

Before Kylo had let any of the men he brought with him exit the ship, he sat outside of it in the eerie, penetrating quiet, meditating, trying to get a sense of what, if any, lifeforms were present here.

He could feel absolutely none; but there WAS a presence here, nonetheless. Something old, something wise.

Something watching.

He beckoned the rest of the men to leave the ship, and they came uneasily, as they set off into the forest to find the plant that they had looked at pictures of in medical books before they left the base.

But the forest was odd.

It was almost pitch-dark, the lanterns that they carried doing almost nothing to throw light into the dimness. The very trees seemed to be moving, changing around them, and before long Kylo feared that they were going in circles.

As if to confirm this, the group came upon a small clearing that they had encountered just moments before.

The men muttered in frustration and fear, and Kylo paused, trying to clear his mind and get his bearings. Suddenly, all of the lanterns simultaneously went out, and he stormtroopers, startled, dropped them at their feet.

"Who dares tread within this sacred forest?"

Kylo felt the words hit him, before he heard them. 

The voice was low, but it was powerful. And distinctly feminine.

It was odd, and surreal. Kylo knew that the voice was real, because the other men were reacting to hearing it, as well. It was real, and speaking aloud, but to Kylo it seemed as though the voice was originating from his mind.

"My name is Kylo Ren, leader of the Knights of Ren and apprentice to Supreme Leader Snoke. We seek the Jacuba plant, known to be somewhere within this forest, to heal the sick back on our base."

"You practice the dark side of the Force, young one, do you not?"

"Yes," he answered back, his voice shaking just the tiniest bit. Aside from seeing Hux become so sick, this was the closest he had gotten to real, actual fear in a good long while.

"Why then, young one, would you be looking for a plant to save someone? The dark side does not revere the life of others, as did the Sisters of the Night. You only take, you only destroy."

"Mistress Spirit," he said, taking a deep breath. "What you say is true, yes. But, if it be in your power, look inside of me. Look and see that I speak the truth. Look and see that I am not the monster you think me to be. The one I wish to save is the one who has the other half of my soul. Please, I need to save him. I value his life more than my own."

He unclipped his lightsaber, and laid it on the ground. He nodded his men to lay down their blasters as well.

"I stand before you unarmed, and at your mercy. Please, help me. Guide me to this plant that I seek."

There was silence, and suddenly Kylo felt himself being lifted slowly into the air. His men immediately reached for their blasters, but he quickly waved for them to remain still.

He felt an energy delve deep into his mind, and he knew it belonged to the force behind the Voice.

He felt himself being explored, read from the inside out. This was unlike anything he had ever felt before, and the magnitude of it left him helpless and paralyzed. He could feel every single one of his memories of himself and Hux being pulled from his mind and examined closely, intricately.

At last it was over, and he felt himself being lowered back towards the ground.

At first it seemed as though nothing was going to happen, and then a blindingly bright white glow illuminated in front of them, tracing out a clear path through the formerly dark forest.

"This is the path you are to follow, to find your plant. Take only what you require, then leave here."

Kylo bowed his head in gratitude.

"Thank you, Mistress Spirit."

He gestured for the men to follow him, and stopped them once again from picking up their blasters.

"My Lord, what if this is a trap?, asked one of them uneasily. "Shouldn't we be armed, just in case?"

Kylo shook his head and began to move down the highlighted trail. "If we were to do that, the trail would disappear," he said, leading the way. He didn't know how he knew that, only that he had a powerful intuition about it that he couldn't ignore.

Following the light was easy, and before long they came to the nest of Jacuba plants, small and gray, with bright blue leaves around the edges.

"There were six men left alive, when we left the base, so only take six plants with us," Kylo told them, and together they worked to remove the sharp little plants from the ground, roots and all.

They carried them carefully back down the path and to the ship, where they reclaimed their blasters, and Kylo's lightsaber, and boarded the ship. Kylo himself remained outside for a few more moments, closing his eyes and giving thanks to the spirit that had guided them.

"Good luck," it whispered back, as he boarded and they made their way back to the base.

\---

He watched as the droid inserted the liquid into a syringe , and injected it into the General's arm.

Nothing happened. 

Hux remained quiet, eyes closed, shallowly breathing.

They were back in Kylo's quarters, where the droid had been called to attend to Hux. It had taken the plants that Kylo and the men had brought back, and combined the pulpy salve from its roots with a powerful antibiotic, creating the medicine that the infected so desperately needed.

"This will take some time, Lord Ren," the droid told him as it packed up its equipment. "It will be a few days before we know whether the serum has taken effect."

Kylo nodded numbly, and told the droid to see to the other patients that were back in Med Bay--the ones who were still alive, anyway. Apparently two more had died in his absence.

When the droid was gone, he sat on the edge of his bed and took Hux's hand into his own.

"Armitage," he said softly, feeling tears well up behind his eyes. "Don't do this to me. It's not too late. You have to fight. Please, please, you HAVE to FIGHT."

No response. No change.

So Kylo let go of his hand and crawled into the opposite side of the bed, his exhaustion from the trip and the mental strain of worry wearing him down.

"I'm going to be right here with you, until you come back," he whispered to Hux. He leaned over him and kissed his cheek as softly as he could, being careful not to hurt him. Hux had gotten so thin that it was like kissing a sheet of paper.

Or a corpse.

\---

The next few days were hard ones, for Kylo.

He was extremely fortunate in that Phasma was a capable leader who didn't need supervision, and that Snoke was away and couldn't see how he was neglecting his own duties. But Kylo could not bring himself to leave Hux's side, as he waited to see whether the medicine was taking effect or not.

Kylo couldn't sleep for more than an hour at a time, and the sleep he did get was filled with shrieking nightmares.

And all the while, Hux didn't seem to change.

The droid assured him that Hux's vitals had considerably improved since the injection of the medicine--but Hux had yet to open his eyes. His body was still only allowing the bare minimum of nutrients to be absorbed into his bloodstream, and he remained thin and delicate.

One afternoon, Kylo's body decided it couldn't take being awake much longer, and had slipped into a troubled, uneasy sleep. He laid next to the unconscious redhead and slept, for once being free of the wretched dreams that haunted him.

"Kylo?"

Kylo opened his eyes. It sounded as though a voice had spoken to him, into his ear, almost; although that HAD to be his imagination.

\--didn't it?

The voice was rough, and thick.  
But familiar.

"Kylo, where are we? What am I doing here?

Kylo turned around slowly, and found himself looking into a pair of brilliant blue eyes. Eyes that were watching him with concern, and confusion.

"Hux?", he whispered, unable to make his voice go any higher. He felt as though he might faint, and was very glad that he was already laying down. "Am I dreaming?"

Hux started to laugh, and the sound of it was the most delicious, beautiful sound Kylo had ever heard before.

"If this is a dream, it's not a very good one. Most dreams I have where we're in bed together are a lot more -- active."

Kylo leaned over him and put both of his arms around him, beginning to sob into his chest.

Hux was startled, and pained. Kylo felt quite a bit heavier than he normally felt, and he wondered why. Then he got a look at his own arms, and noticed how much thinner they had gotten, how much paler he seemed. And Kylo's tears--

"What is going on?", Hux demanded, struggling to sit up.

Kylo got off of him and gently pushed him back down.

"You've been sick, Armitage," he said, and slowly began to recount for him the last couple of weeks. When he was finished, he exploded into tears yet again.

"I kept thinking I was too late; that you were dead and I was too late to save you!", Kylo muttered in-between sobs. "And now you're awake, and talking to me, and I'm terrified that this is just another dream, and --"

"Come here," Hux interrupted him, holding out his arms for Kylo. Kylo went into them gently, laying his head on Hux's chest as the redhead ran his fingers through his hair, soothing him.

"I'm alright. Im sore, and tired, but I'm alright. I promise."

Eventually Kylo calmed down, and he started to move away from Hux.

"I've got to call the Med Droid, to come take a look at you. And we've got to see about getting you some food. And Snoke! He'll want to know that you're--"

But Hux was shaking his head, using what little strength he had to scoot over. He patted his pillow gingerly.

"All of that can wait a little while, Kylo. Right now I just want you to lay here with me. You look like you haven't had any decent sleep in months, and it's worrying me. Come on."

So Kylo laid his head next to Hux's on the pillow, snuggling down underneath Hux's chin. When he felt Hux's arms go around him, holding him, humming to him, he felt like his body might explode and scatter into the stars.

He was finally home.

\---

Out of the six stormtroopers that Hux had taken with him on that mission, only 2 survived long enough for the serum to take effect. They were like Hux, weak and paper-thin, but very much alive. 

Hux had insisted, after being checked out by the Med Droid and cleared for movement, that Kylo take him to Med Bay, so that he could see those who had lived through this terrible ordeal.

So Kylo stood in the doorway of Med Bay as Hux went and spoke to each man, subtly using the Force to keep Hux supported and upright until Kylo could physically help him again.

Afterwards, they went to see Captain Phasma, who was more than pleased that General Hux was alive and well; she gave him a run-down of everything she had done in his absence, and volunteered to stay on in his place until he felt up to coming back, which he thanked her for.

They met many Officers and Stormtroopers along the way to either rooms, and everyone was elated to see the General alive, and moving.

Their last stop was in the chambers of Snoke, where they could access his hologram to speak with.

"Supreme Leader," Kylo said to the ghostly image, unable to keep the smile from his face, "General Hux has made a recovery, and is back on his feet."

The hologram looked down at Hux in disbelief. "Excellent, General. I had confidence that you would pull through. I trust that Captain Phasma has seceded power back to you?"

Hux nodded and cleared his throat several times before speaking. Having been silent for so long, words still felt strange in his mouth.

"She has, Supreme Leader, and I must say she's done an excellent job in my absence. I'd like to recommend putting her up for a rank promotion."

The hologram nodded. "I return within a week, General. We'll discuss it then. Now, dismiss."

They both bowed, and the hologram faded out of existence.

As soon as it was gone, Kylo leaned over and kissed him, again, nearly knocking the still-too-thin man off balance.

"Be careful," Hux said, laughing. "I'm still not 100% yet."

Kylo relented, and put his arm gently around Hux's waist, supporting him. 

"You're right; come on, let's get you back to bed."

Hux nodded, leaning against the taller man tiredly. "It'll be different, being back in my quarters again."

Kylo looked at him and frowned. "Why would I put you back in your own quarters?"

"Aren't--aren't you tired of me? I assumed I'd go back to my own place, with a Med Bay droid sent to monitor me."

Kylo shook his head as the two slowly made their way down the hall. "If you weren't so weak, I'd punch you, you idiot."

Before Hux could ask why, Kylo was continuing,

"It's not easy for me to say this, but: I love you, Armitage Hux. Your life is my life. And if you're sick, or weak, like now, guess what? Kylo Ren is going to be the one who takes care of you. Not a Med Bay droid, not personnel staff, not one of your aides, but ME. And the sooner you get used to that reality, the happier we'll both be."

Hux was silent, then, with a smile:

"Can we at least stop by my quarters, so I can retrieve my data pad?"

Kylo looked at him. "Data pad? What for? We literally JUST talked to Phasma and she's going to continue to sit in your place for at least a few more days, you know. No work."

"It isn't work; I have to type out a memo to myself. It's important."

Kylo rolled his eyes. "What do you have to take note of that's so important it can't wait?"

"I need to remind myself to get you an engagement ring. And that IS important, and it CAN'T wait."

Kylo was stunned into silence, and stopped dead in his tracks with Hux still leaning against him, in the middle of the hallway.

Hux took advantage of the opportunity to lean up and kiss Kylo softly on the mouth.

"And, in case you don't know it, I love you, too, Kylo. Now come on; I'm starting to feel hungry."

So they continued their slow trek towards the quarters, laughing and talking and stealing more kisses along the way.


End file.
